Stories about Freedom of Speech from August, 2008
Russia, Georgia: The Balkan Context
LimbicNutrition Weblog writes about the Russian-Georgian conflict in the context of the earlier events in the Balkans.
Brazil: I want to live in Second Life
Wanderley Filho [pt] compares, ironically, Brazilian politicians achievements to life on Second Life: a parallel world. “The election air time on TV is a balm to comfort those citizens who...
Angola: Media shut up – again?
Eugénio Costa Almeida [pt] is again puzzled by the disappearence of another news portal in Angola, Correio Digital, which displays a “temporarily suspended” error: “What is going on? And this...
Turkey: YouTube Un-blocked?
Several Turkish bloggers are reporting the lifting of the YouTube ban in Turkey, including Internation Musings, however it may take up to 72 hours for Turkish web users to see...
South Korea: Leftwing Economist Arrested for Subversion
Robert Koehler criticizes the South Korean government for arresting a most renowned economist for speaking out against capitalism under the excuse of violation of the National Security Law.
China: Translating New York Times Olympic Report
Black and White Cat shows how the Xinhua has translated the New York Times Olympic Report into Chinese.
Bahrain: Bloggers are Trouble
Bahraini blogger and administrator of the locally banned Bahrainonline [Ar] online forum Ali Abdelemam posts an interview with him in an LA newspaper – on blogging and the how authorities...
Cuba: Punk Rocker Arrested
As several bloggers voice their outrage at the arrest of Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila, Havana-based Generation Y claims: “They took him because nothing destabilizes the intransigents more than a...
Barbados, Cuba: Broadcasting Meeting
Bajan Global Report reports on the Prime Minister's trip to Cuba to attend the 39th General Assembly of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, an organization which supports and promotes high quality...
China: Cop Killer's Case
The Shanghai Cop killer's or Yang Jia case was on court on yesterday (26 of Aug). Both Shanghai citizens and reporters were not allowed to attend the trial as all...
Brazil: Church demands justice do ban sexy pic on Playboy
Milton Ribeiro [pt] reports that the Brazilian Justice has banned a photo in August edition of Playboy, after complains from the Catholic Church because the model was holding a crucifix....
Guyana: Reporter Fired?
Living Guyana says that a journalist has allegedly been fired for writing a less-than-glowing account of the Carifesta Opening Ceremony, which Signifyin’ Guyana agrees the reporter correctly described as “disappointing”.
China: Photos from inside Tibetan Skynet control room
Famed she is, though definitely not for her blogging, which is too bad, because there's no doubt that a lot of people would be interested to see the control-room photos...
China: Cop-killer online hero case goes on trial
Yang Jia's case goes to trial today, after having been postponed for the Olympics. Previously he had been harmonized after having been heroized by many online for walking into a...
Iran:President's adviser and negative comments
Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Iranian president's media adviser, publishes comments criticizing government in his blog [Fa]. A rare event in Iran.
Palestine: A New Blogging Revolution
Blogger Times, a blogging magazine written by Arab bloggers, covering new developments and current issues within the Arab blogging world, has published a new story called Blogging.. a Palestinian revolution.” How is the blogging scene in Palestine and what should bloggers focus on?
Georgia: Pepsikolka's Dispatches From Poti
OpenDemocracy.net posts translations of posts by LJ user pepsikolka (Samira Kuznetsova), a blogger living in Poti, Georgia: here, here, and here. (Earlier GV translations of pepsikolka‘s posts are here and...
Russia: Rally at Red Square
Photos and video of seven activists holding a rally at Red Square in Moscow on Aug. 24 – “For your and our freedom” – in commemoration of the protest against...
Egypt: Blogger Detained
Elijah Zarwan, from Egypt, draws our attention to yet another blogger detained. “Mohammed Refaat, a student and a blogger, was detained on July 21 on charges of ‘threatening public security’...
China: Re-education through labor sentence for two elderly protesters
The closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics draws near, and while Chinese media are unable to report on scandals such as this that have dominated foreign media headlines, it is those foreign media reports which have given Chinese netizens plenty to chew over.
Bahamas, Cuba: Inconvenient Truths?
“The Bahamas standard of living reflects the effect of free trade and a relatively limited government. Citizens here are still far better off than in many countries in the region...
